An amazing but simple 5 minute red and black vodka cocktail, flavoured with blackberries and vanilla. Perfect for the upcoming Black Widow film! I will also show you how to make a mocktail version of this drink.
It looks super cool but I ensure you that there is nothing fancy or over complicated about this recipe. Just a beautiful blend of wonderful ingredients, and if you want to add more or less alcohol, by all means, please do so.
How to make the black widow cocktail
So I have always been a big fan of chilling the glass in the freezer for 2-3 minutes before I start making a cocktail. And whilst the glass is chilling you can gather and prepare all of your ingredients.
Muddle some blackberries, sugar and vanilla extract together at the bottom of the chilled glass. If you want to add a herb like thyme or mint, you may do so.
Add your lemon juice and your vodka. Then mix those ingredients, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add some more blackberries, some ice and the top up almost to the top of the glass with soda water.
Once the drink is done, serve straight away!
How to achieve the colour
The key to making this cocktail Black Widow themed is by keeping that nice contrast between the “black” and the red. The red is achieved by diluting the muddled blackberries, remember that blackberries only appear black, but they are actually a more red and purple colour.
Then we add the black element by adding whole blackberries.
The garnish also helps, you could mix some red or black food colouring in a small pile of kosher salt, rub some lemon or lime around the rim of your glass and then dip the rim in the red or black salt. If you want to see a demonstration of this technique, you can check out my Game of Thrones White Walker Cocktail.
Or you can do what I did, and thread a raspberry and a blackberry on a small skewer or toothpick, then place it on the rim of your glass.
Not a vodka fan?
If you don’t like vodka, you can always substitute it for another spirit. If I had to choose which spirit, I would say that white rum would be the next best thing.
Be careful if your using an aged, darker rum or spirit because this may change the overall colour of the cocktail.
How to make a mocktail version
So, as I was doing my research for finding a non-alcoholic version of vodka, I thought there would be endless recipes. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, but I found it interesting that water was often mentioned as a replacement. My first thought was exactly what you’re thinking right now, boring!
However this did get me thinking about how I can use water to create a different element for the drink, and that is exactly what I did, by infusing the water with strong spices and aromatics.
It’s simple, I just brought about half a litre of water to a boil.
Then I added the aromatics and herbs, let the water simmer for a few minutes and then I just turned the heat off and let the ingredients infuse in that water. I added a cinnamon stick, some cloves, fresh ginger, some lemon peel, a few star anise and some mint.
Cool the infused water down in the fridge before adding it to your drink.
And since both vodka and infused water are clear for the most part, the mocktail will look the same as the cocktail, but it will just give a different kind of strength to the drink.
Thank you so much ladies and gentlemen for viewing my post! I hope you enjoy this drink recipe, remember that above in the post, my White Walker cocktail is linked. And here are a couple of other movie themed cocktails:
And if you would like to subscribe to stay notified for weekly recipes, and to receive a free recipe E-book, then feel free to sign up below. Thanks again and have a wonderful day!
Black Widow Cocktail
A beautiful red and black cocktail that you can make in 5 minutes or less. The perfect treat for celebrating the new Black Widow movie.
Ingredients
- 60 g of blackberries plus extra for garnish
- 3/4 tablespoon of caster sugar
- ½ teastpoons of vanilla extract
- ½ oz of fresh lemon juice
- 1½ oz vodka
- 3-4 blocks of Ice
- Soda water to top up
- Raspberries for garnish
Instructions
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Chill the glass in the freezer for 2-3 minutes an get your other ingredients prepped whilst the glass is chilling.
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Put half of your blackberries in the glass, along with your sugar and vanilla extract. Then muddle the ingredients together.
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From there add your lemon juice and vodka and then stir until the sugar is dissolved.
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Add the rest of blackberries and your ice.
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Top up the drink almost to the top of the glass with soda water and the give the drink a few more stirs.
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Thread a piece of raspberry and blackberry onto a toothpick, and then place on the rim of your glass as a garnish.
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Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Put your glass in the freezer for about 2-3 minutes to chill it.
- Make sure that the sugar is fully dissolved in the drink. You can add simple syrup instead if you have it.
- To keep this drink Black Widow themed, try to create a nice contrast of red and black throughout the cocktail.
- You can also mix a few drops of black or red food colouring through a pile of flaked salt, then use lemon or lime to wet the rim of your glass and dip that rim into the coloured salt pile for a nice visual effect if you want. I demonstrate this technique in my White Walker Cocktail.
- You can replace vodka with any other spirit you want, I would personally go for white rum.
- Be careful when adding darker aged spirits because they may change the colour.
- If you want to make a mocktail version of this drink, try adding infused water instead of vodka. Steep some herbs and strong aromatics in boiling hot water, then cool it down in the fridge before adding it.
- Mineral water and club soda can be replaced with soda water.
Delicious looking and very refreshing, I think.
This sounds great!
Good to know that works too! I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
Thanks so much man I really appreciate the comment!!
It was really tasty, especially the vanilla coming through. To add more to the creepiness of it, when you drink it and get some pieces of blackberries, they seem to feel like you’re slurping up little spiders. Gross and neat!
Oh wow thanks Robert I am glad you liked it!!
Can’t wait to try this!